Atheist Have It So Darn Easy

          Before becoming a Christian life seemed so much easier even though I was completely lost. I had no standards to try and live by nor did I worry about what was morally acceptable. I existed in this world with no purpose. Temptation wasn’t really a term to me; I felt no accountability for what I did. Now I’m not saying my life was meaningless. I had goals and plans but they were my ideas and not in line with the path God had for me. Crazy thing is when you become a believer and cross that faith line there are struggles and temptations everywhere you look. It felt like, once I accepted Christ, it disappointed Satan so much that he just wanted to punish me over and over again. There were numerous obstacles thrown in my path that made me want to question why it was so hard to be a Christian. Wasn’t life supposed to get easier?

          An old neighbor of mine, in her sixties, had a chat with me a few years back. We were discussing all the church activities my kids were signed up for and all the volunteering my husband and I did at our church. She had told me it was great to instill certain values in my children but she also told me how sad she was for me to have such false hopes. She said she feels bad for people that actually believe there is life after death. She continued to tell me how sad she feels when she sees people, such as Christians, waste so much time going to church, doing Bible studies, etc. This neighbor of mine was a good person, had a fortunate life and never seemed to have struggles. She believed in doing good things for others and raising your children with good morals, but she was absolutely convinced that there was no such thing as God. She calmly explained to me once we die its lights out there is nothing else. She said we live on this earth to live the best life we can and then it’s over and there is nothing. She said, “Call me an atheist, because that's exactly what I am.” She proudly said, “I’ve never given this God two seconds of my precious time.” Then she asked me to sit back and look at how great her life was. She said if there was such thing as God then why was her life so “blessed?”   

          I was very sad for her and tried my hardest to explain how much better life was once you found Christ. She gave me the talk about how she had been there, heard it all before and she was twice my age. She said there was nothing in this world that would persuade her to believe differently. I thought, yeah maybe not in this world but wait until you die you’re going to wish you were persuaded in the previous world. Now as someone who respects her elders I decided that we should agree to disagree. I told her I was throwing in the towel but God never would.

          After this particular chat I wondered why God had made this person’s life so great and easy but I found struggles and temptations all around me. I wasn’t looking for them they were being thrown in my face. I just didn’t get it. Why can’t I have the easy life with no issues and just be able to do good and never have stress or worries. It came clear to me one time after talking to my brother about atheism. Even though atheist don’t believe in God or Satan there is no denying that once they die they are either spending eternity in hell or eternity in heaven. The problem is atheist do not believe in accepting Christ and therefor they will be separated from God for eternity once they die. That is exactly what Satan wants. It isn’t God making life easy on her; He is trying everything to get through her front door. Its Satan making life easier on her, he isn’t going to put obstacles in an atheist way. Satan isn’t going to throw temptations every which direction.  Satan doesn’t want her struggles to be so hard that she seeks Christ and turns to faith. Satan has no work to do on these individuals because the goal has already been met. Satan hates God so much that he doesn’t care if people don’t believe in him, he just cares that they are eternally separated from God.        

2 Thessalonians 1:9

~They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from His glorious power.